Don’t auto-connect your Facebook posts to Twitter!

When carrying out an online marketing analysis for a business client, Chichester Copywriter’s Katy will often see the social media marketing mistake of using the auto-connect option from Facebook to Twitter e.g. posting on Facebook and having that same post link through and post on Twitter also, as though you’ve just checked in there too.

One of the most common excuses used for doing this is a lack of time to write different posts for Twitter and Facebook. However, this is not a valid reason where creating a positive online brand awareness is concerned. Choosing to auto-connect your social media accounts could actually be doing you more harm than good, for the following reasons:

Uncommunicative – Remember that both Facebook and Twitter are first and foremost communication tools. When linking your Twitter account to repeat what you’ve just said on Facebook, especially when you’ve not checked in to Twitter for a few days, you’re not using the tools as they’re intended.

Let’s put it this way, if a Twitter follower sees a post pop up from you on their timeline they might presume that you’re on Twitter at that time and send you a swift reply in the spirit of good old fashioned conversation. However, if you’re not there and not checking your messages (or email alerts) then you’re not going to see that reply and this could be regarded as snub by a business associate or potential customer.

Please note that automating tweets to post in the middle of the night in an effort to capture a different audience or while taking a social media sabbatical are just as dubious with regard to true communication.

Uncreative – Let’s be honest, linking your Twitter account to display exactly what you’ve just posted on Facebook is not inventive and is a little bit lazy. Marketing should be creative and if it doesn’t inspire you it is even less likely to inspire the people that you’re trying to reach. Social media marketing can be a cost-effective solution to spreading awareness about your business online but it does require some time and effort.

Many people argue that auto-connecting their tweets from Facebook is a great time-saver but everybody is short of time and this strategy is a false economy. Just think, would you waste your precious time reading or responding to a message that you’ve already seen elsewhere? It works both ways!

Unoriginal – When someone likes your Facebook page, the chances are (if they fully embrace social media marketing) that they will also follow you on Twitter. Imagine that they have just logged into Facebook and seen your post pop up on their timeline and that now it’s time for them to login to Twitter and see what’s going on over there. Do you think that seeing the same message that they’ve just seen on Facebook is going to inspire them or reinforce your message? It’s more likely to turn them off or motivate them to stop following you, stop liking you or both. There’s no reason why you can’t say the same thing in a slightly different way at a different time – again, think creativity!

Also, if your Facebook posts automatically feed through to Twitter and you realise that you’ve made a spelling mistake or uploaded the wrong photo on Facebook you’ll need to sign in to Twitter anyway and delete your auto-tweet. The link feeds through so quickly that, before you know it, you’ll have a string of similar tweets, yet more repetition and a sloppy representation of your brand.

Unattractive – There’s nothing worse than having a post appear on your Twitter feed that reads “I’ve posted a new photo to Facebook URL”. This not only requires you to click on a URL that may or may not be secure (it’s usually shortened so it’s uncertain) but also, for those not logged into Facebook at the time (or, heaven forbid, not actually Facebook users), that link diverts them to a login page rather than a photo. This is frustrating and presents yet another hoop for your audience to jump through before they can receive your message. Web users are notoriously lazy and, just as making your website navigation/page links more user-friendly will make conversions more likely, making links to and from social media tools seamless will encourage people to click through and read.

About me

Hello, my name is Katy Lassetter and I have more than 8 years experience as a copywriter. I dabbled with the pen from an early age but first seriously entertained the notion of professional copywriting while studying Communication at Bournemouth University...